Early Prespawn and Prespawn favorite lures for PB size fish?

[Big Hands]

On 3/10/2025 at 7:57 AM, Swamp Girl said:

I believe you, Catt...up to a point. I'm not going to cast a chicken nugget.

 

Put one of these on the back if it'll make ya feel better. . .

 

[txchaser]

below 50:

blade bait

deep crank

Jig, or a slither rig

bladed jig fished like a swinghead (let it hit bottom) - not yoyo, just low and real slow. think crayfish-ish

you can chuck a-rigs around shad balls but it's hard and not super productive

sounded like this lake doesn't have weeds. if it did I'd say start at the old outside weed line. barring that, I'd look for deeper (deep is relative but at least 8') flats that are by a dropoff, and on the way to shallower water that would be a good stopping place. start deep and move shallow. But you are looking for a spot where they are just chilling out, and can move up to feed on that flat.

 

over 50

bladed jig

big squarebill

flatside (very strong opinion on the 6th sense 75x)

big rattletrap - regular/silent/2-tap

jig/slither rig (think BIG presentation)

listen to the red comments

 

sun is out and water on a warming trend they might shock you how shallow they can be so you might need to move up more than expected.

same deal - draw a line from deep water/dropoff through the deep flats to spawning areas - should be able to figure out how deep they are in general. @WRB trick of idling a bit to figure out where the bait is is always a good starting place. I kind of like the bottom of the bait range for bigger fish.

 

more often than not the big fish are a little deeper than the small fish. if you are catching little guys, move.

 

staring at the map a lot might help - look for transition spots (glenn had a recent video) - spot on the spot, etc. Remember these big fish will literally eat a one-pound bass, and they are apex predators. here's an example - I found a deep flat that was actually on a point. about the size of the boat. dropped off fast on the other side of that little flat like Point->Deep Flat->Dropoff. Big girl was lurking there and happy to eat my lure. 

 

The red thing on cranks, lipless, and chatterbaits is very real, at least in Texas.

 

[Mr. Aquarium]

For big fish I’d have to say a big glide bait  or a big soft bait. I’ve had my best big fish days in the spring fishing big baits.

Jigs and jerkbaits also have caught me big fish in early spring as well. 

[dwtaylor]

I have never caught a PB in the spring or fall window.  

 

I am dabbling into the 6"+ swimbait game this year to help with that.  

 

I did catch my biggest 5 fish bag ever at 22.5lbs last fall, all smallmouth on a tx rigged 3.5" tube with a 5/16oz weight flipping wood on mud banks and cut banks.  I think the leopard frogs were migrating into the water for their hibernation which turned that bite on that day.  It was amazing.  Before that day, I had never caught anything above 4.5lbs on that river. 

[WRB]

Looking at the start of this post the OP mentions Smallmouth Bass catch.

If he looking for PB Smallmouth a jig is still a good choice but location may be different. AJay is the resident Brown expert so I will defer to Andy!

Tom

[Swamp Girl]

3 hours ago, dwtaylor said:

22.5lbs last fall

 

22.5 pounds of river smallies??? Wow!!!

 

I'd listen to Mr. Taylor too.

[Rockhopper]

My PB brownie came on a 2.5" black/blue finesse stupid tube bouncing off a rocky shoreline in a reservoir near the dam in about 20ft of water.  It can happen on a lot of lures.  

[FishTank]

My three top fish have been caught in Spring and Fall. I caught them on a Zoom Lizard, a 5in Senko, and a BFS trout lure. 

[F14A-B]

On 3/10/2025 at 10:22 AM, Catt said:

 

Absolutely true!

It's about locations, not lures

I caught a 2 pound LMB on chicken liver once 😂 back in 93 or 94 .. couldn’t believe it haha 

 

in about 86 I caught a 5” FSLMB on a 7” wild golden shiner no hook needed he got it stuck in his mouth and I reeled him on in.. (shiner was fin hooked) 

[dwtaylor]

1 hour ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

22.5 pounds of river smallies??? Wow!!!

 

I'd listen to Mr. Taylor too.

Haha, It was the right place at the right time, not angler excellence.

 

My pb was 6-6 from the sturgeon bay area.  Id like to catch a 7+ but typically that is a spring bite and the weather and wind can be very unpredictable and unsafe so I will be patient on that one.

[bishoptf]

7 hours ago, WRB said:

Looking at the start of this post the OP mentions Smallmouth Bass catch.

If he looking for PB Smallmouth a jig is still a good choice but location may be different. AJay is the resident Brown expert so I will defer to Andy!

Tom

For me its LMB since the lakes only have LMB, well the smaller lake does have some SMB but they are pretty rare if caught.

 

Went out today and oof, water temp is mid 50's now and its still a tough bite, one keeper and 2 shorts. Threw a lot of cranks today and caught one early and thought that was a good sign but a lot of throwing and not much catching. Just not sure where they are staging or if they are on the main lake still chasing shad, some of coves in the back are 57 degrees but they haven't started moving up from what I can see. Just not sure what else to do, maybe next time I will slow down and work some lay downs with jigs, lost at the moment.

[scaleface]

Crankbait on steep, rocky , sunny banks is a good way to catch a lunker. A long time ago I favored an Arbogast Mudbg in a crawfish color.I dont have a good one any more.  Today I would opt for a Wiggle Wart or Rock Crawler.

[Pat Brown]

On 3/10/2025 at 10:52 AM, Catt said:

Every lure is capable of producing your personal best

 

Location + timing

Not location + lure

 

 

This is something I constantly have to remind myself when I get wrapped up about bait color or size or action - it's more about being around em and using something that efficiently gets to where they're at at the right time.

 

It's always about right time and right place.

 

The location is extremely important.  If they're in 14 feet of water belly down on rock - a frog or buzzbait aren't the best choices necessarily.

 

If they're buried in emergent pencil reeds in 1.3 feet of water - a suspending jerkbait or DT10 probably isn't the best choice.

 

If they're suspending at 12 feet down over 20 feet of water a half mile off a point eating balls of threadfin - dragging a football jig isn't gonna be getting their attention probably.

 

Long story short with bait selection is think about the depth and type of cover and the bait is gonna be obvious.  From there you play with speed and size and color and that is where the real fun begins.

 

When you really get them dialed in - you can do no wrong sometimes.